Autumn is a time for the Self, allowing both the light and dark within. Amidst the challenges of Omicron and the horrific war in Ukraine we need to come out of our scattered heads and down into our bodies, we need to feel anxiety as the emotion of fear in our physical body, allow it, being real and present gives awareness, steadiness, acceptance. It is the year for Embodiment!

Early Autumn is the time for the Earth element, the energy of elimination, cleansing, releasing, also transforming, a firm foundation to rise from, to accept change and the flow of life. We can bring our awareness to balancing the Yin Spleen  and Yang Stomach meridians. Late Autumn  involves the Metal element, time to acknowledge our inherent value and self worth, and balance the Lung Yin and Yang Large Intestine meridians.

We are blessed with the gift of yoga allowing us to slow down, to learn to balance our body, our life, noticing moments of calm in ourselves and in nature. We can practice tapas – doing our best, staying with a simple ritual, a routine, the gentle discipline of yoga.

Practising ‘Grounding’ in some way every day is helpful in Autumn, a season of change, holding still contacting and connecting to the ground balances our Vata Dosha.  There are several different asanas/ poses and movements for grounding, you can make it your own, add your yoga flow afterward, explore your own Sadhana.

Sukhasana / sit well pose, easy seat 

Begin by ‘sitting your asana down’ in Sukhasana, down on the ground, on a cushion or you might like to feel the grass on a fine autumn day! You could also sit against a wall and feel more grounding support for your spine, the contact points, enabling you to relax more in what can be a challenging pose.

Use a cushion if you need to, sit on the front part, to allow the hips to soften and open and the spine to rise up long and strong. Sense the balance of length and strength in your trunk. Feel your sit bones on the ground, the broad support of your pelvis, the hips, shoulders, the jaw. A simple seat of focus, allowing space in the spine  to support the flow of breath as subtle energy through the central Sushumna nadi, gently align the pelvis, heart, crown, a long line from your root to your crown.

Pause and arrive, engage inward, allow what is happening for you, being with how you truely feel. Observe your body, breath and mind, allowing time and space to just notice and feel ( somatic experiencing), this will relax the nervous system. Just notice the sensation and flow of breathing, be curious and non judgemental. Now you are present. After a while you might like to add some gentle conscious breathing / pranayam, silently, try inhaling deeply receiving the light, a newness, pause/ khumbha at the top of the inhale, exhale long, releasing completely, gently stimulating the lungs and digestive systems, pause at the bottom of the exhale, let the inhale come of its own accord, no force.

Soften the eyes, feel them sink into their sockets, feel the muscles soften, you could place your hands on the ground, feel the palms.

Dandasana

Stretch the legs long when you are ready, the arms long beside, staying upright on your sit bones, feel an even length of the spine, the arms, the legs. Feel the contact points on the ground, the palms, the backs of the legs, the breath at your centre, shoulders down.

Cat pose / Majaryasana

Align the body, hands under the shoulders, knees under the hips, 4 pillars, spread the fingers, feel the grounding of the palms, the shins. Lead with the breath as you inhale extending the spine looking up, pause and feel, exhale rounding the spine with the core, rooting into the palms , the shins.

Add poses and movements as you wish, mindfully feeling the spiritual inward third eye on the ground in Anahatasana or Melting Heart pose, opening the heart, laying down the tops of the feet, then feeling the soles and palms in Mountain or Downward facing Dog and when you rest back in Childs pose, extend the palms forward, Uttita Balasana, sensing the Earth below, trusting its support and feeling and hearing the comforting sound and flow of your own breath, close to you.

Standing / Tadasana – Mountain or Stand Well pose.

Notice the ground pushing up into the feet, the soles, the support of the Earth, yourself a part of the greater whole. Gently pull your thighs back, the arms a little behind the plane of the body so you feel the sensation of energy, of prana. Align the hips over the front of the heels, the shoulders over the hips, the crown, the heart, the pelvis. Close your eyes if you like and follow the flow of your breath, drawing new energy up from the Earth, through the soles, up your front body to your crown and release old energy back down the back body, returning it to the Earth, be aware of the cycle of energy of which you are a part. Make small circles around the soles of your feet, feel your balance, standing still in Samasthiti, the pose of Equilibrium.

Walking Mindfully in Nature, connecting with the Earth

When you are ready you can refocus, notice what you can see, hear, feel. Feel the cool grass under your feet as you walk slowly, or the sand on the beach between your toes, the cool freshness of the sea as you paddle.

Add some yoga flows, allow yourself to run, to skip, forwards and backwards, gallop side to side, small jumps, feet tight together forward and back, side to side. The energy of the Earth is transforming. Feel your aliveness in these moments, contacting and trusting the Earth and … the flow of life.

Savasana / Relaxation

You might like to lie facedown first, this induces relaxation, calming the startle response. When you are ready, you can turn onto your back, release in any way you choose, maybe decpompress the spine lying with the knees bent, a spinal twist, roll the head side to side. Now, settle in stillness, feel comfortable, aligned on the ground, open arms and legs a little away from the body, a sense of space around and within. You can become more present as you listen for sounds – the furtherest away, notice the next sound, moving from sound to sound, be curious about what you can hear.

As you rest, feel where you are supported on the ground, notice the heels, the calves, the back of the pelvis, the back of the body from the bottom to the top and its physical contact points, settle in. Now notice the front body from the crown down the front body, let the eyes soften into their sockets, the brain lobes rest down and back, release the lower jaw, notice where the tongue rests, quietly now. Soften the heart, the shoulders, let go the busy doing hands, soften the belly now, let it be spacious, release the front of the hips, the soft fleshy skin here, let go the busy thighs, freeze the shins, the tops of the feet. Connect with your body. Feel the front body resting lightly on the support of the back body, anchored but soft, your natural print on the Earth, may it be steady and still, nurturing for yourself, for others and for Mother Earth.

Be aware of your breath, flowing at the nostrils, within and out and where the body moves with the breath, the movement of your soft belly. Be curious about the length of your breath, notice it lengthening on the exhale, the slowing of the breath. Inhale energy through the back body from the Earth, exhale releasing energy washing down and out the front body.

Allow yourself to let go the doing, to be in a pose of Being, enjoy your stillness, how you feel.

Come back to noticing the sounds around, let them pass by, when you are ready begin to awaken your physical body with gentle movement, turn onto your side, breathe for 3, before coming to an upright seated position.